“Southside” Gang Leader Sentenced To 30 Years For Murder, Racketeering, Narcotics, And Firearms Charges

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that today SKYLAR DAVIS, a/k/a “S-Dot,” was sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with his robbery and participation in the murder of Samuel Stubbs, a community member in the City of Newburgh, New York, and DAVIS’s membership in and leadership of “Southside,” a violent street gang that operated in Newburgh.  DAVIS previously pled guilty to racketeering and murder charges before United States District Cathy Seibel, who also imposed today’s sentence.  Besides his gang leadership and his participation in the murder of Samuel Stubbs, DAVIS also committed or helped commit six additional nonfatal shootings of Southside’s gang rivals in Newburgh over an approximately nine-month period in 2015 and 2016.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “On a summer night in 2015, Southside gang leader Skylar Davis participated in the murder of Samuel Stubbs.  Davis also committed or participated in more than half a dozen other attempted murders over the ensuing year.  Now he will spend many years in federal prison for his reign of violence.”

According to the various Indictments filed in this case, other documents filed, as well as statements made in open court:

From at least 2014 through June 2017, the Southside Gang was a criminal enterprise centered in and around the intersection of South Street and Chambers Street in an area of Newburgh known as the “Southside.”  In order to gain funds for the gang, protect the gang’s territory, and promote the gang’s standing, members of Southside engaged in, among other things, narcotics trafficking, robbery, and acts involving murder.  To that end, Southside members sold heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana in the gang’s territory, promoted their gang affiliation on social media sites such as Facebook, possessed firearms, and engaged in shootings as part of their gang membership.  Southside members participated in numerous shootings of rival gang members and innocent bystanders, including two murders.

DAVIS was a longtime member of Southside and one of the gang’s leaders.  On August 13, 2015, DAVIS, along with others, decided to rob a high-stakes card game that Stubbs was playing outside, near the intersection of Lander and Courtney Streets in Newburgh.  DAVIS and a co-conspirator approached the three card players with guns drawn and then started firing.  All three men were hit by the ensuing gunfire, and Stubbs, 67, died of his injuries.

The Stubbs murder was only one of many acts of violence DAVIS participated in as part of his leadership of the Southside gang, including numerous violent crimes after DAVIS participated in Stubbs’s murder.  Beginning in the summer of 2015, Southside engaged in a series of retaliatory shootings with its primary rival gang in Newburgh, the Yellow Tape Money Gang, or “YTMG,” and with other Newburgh gangs allied with YTMG.  DAVIS committed, assisted, and/or caused the following additional Newburgh shootings:

    The attempted murder of rival gang member Gabriel Warren, a/k/a “Stacks,” in the late summer or early fall of 2015;

    The attempted murder of rival gang member Armad Evans, a/k/a “Yellow,” on or about October 5, 2015;

    The attempted murder of rival gang member Tyrin Gayle, a/k/a “Spazzo,” and other YTMG members on or about December 11, 2015;

    The attempted murder of rival YTMG gang members on or about March 17, 2016;

    Aiding and abetting the attempted murder of rival gang member Romeo Herring on or about April 3, 2016; and

    The attempted murder of rival gang members in the vicinity of the 845 Lounge located at 778 Broadway on or about May 21, 2016.

DAVIS bragged about his violence, his drug dealing, and his firearms possession on Facebook, which helped further fuel the violent rivalry between Southside and YTMG.

DAVIS, 22, of Newburgh, was arrested in June 2017 as a result of a multi-year investigation by the FBI’s Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the City of Newburgh Police Department into gang violence in Newburgh.  DAVIS was previously serving a lengthy sentence for New York state weapon and controlled substance offenses.  The Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the City of Newburgh Police Department had previously arrested members of YTMG in 2016; every charged member of YTMG was sentenced by Judge Seibel in 2017 and 2018.